姘 (pīn): to cohabit illicitly

Meanings

1 to cohabit illicitly
2 to have an affair
3 to keep as a lover or mistress

Characters

姘

pīn

to cohabit illicitly

Examples

他和那个女人姘在一起。

Tā hé nàge nǚrén pīn zài yīqǐ.

He had an illicit relationship with that woman.

他在外面姘了一个女人。

Tā zài wàimiàn pīn le yī gè nǚrén.

He kept a mistress outside his marriage.

Tips

register

姘 carries a strongly negative, disapproving tone — it labels an extramarital or unsanctioned sexual relationship, not a relationship anyone describes neutrally. The common compound is 姘居, to live together illicitly.

Components

radical

女 nǚ

woman; female

The woman radical 女 on the left places 姘 in the family of relationship and kinship words like 婚 (marry) and 妻 (wife), here marking an illicit pairing.

phonetic

并 bìng

to combine; side by side (here phonetic)

Right is 并, giving the sound pīn. Its meaning 'to put side by side, to merge' doubles as a faint hint at two people improperly joining together.